Hanging By A Moment
by peachyellow
Summary: When Eli Goldsworthy goes to his high school reunion, he comes back in contact with a blue-eyed beauty that he thought he'd forgotten.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, unfortunately.**

**This chapter is short, but no worries, the next chapter will be long :D**

**Also, Adam and Eli, in this story, are both 23 years old. The reunion that they're going to is five years after they graduated from Degrassi.**

* * *

><p><span>Eli's POV<span>

The wide-eyed baby stared blankly up at me with a goofy, toothless grin. "Isn't he adorable?" Bianca said, breaking our staring contest, and leaned down to pick up the infant.

I nodded and sighed. "You can make yourself at home in the guest room." She told me, noticing my suitcase by my feet. "Adam will be over soon." She smiled.

"So, Eli, are you excited for the reunion tomorrow?" Bianca asked, trying to start up a conversation. She sat down on the couch and shifted the giggly baby onto her knee.

I shoved my hands in my pocket and sat down on the loveseat across from the couch. "Of course," I stated sarcastically. "I'm so excited to see everyone who made my high school years a living hell." I laughed.

Adam forced me to come down here to go to our high school reunion. His small, one bedroom apartment wouldn't allow my company so he dragged me to his brother, Drew and his wife's house. Drew and Bianca got married shortly after high school and I'm surprised that they're still going strong. They even popped out a baby.

Bianca laughed, "It couldn't of been that bad. You had Adam and Clare, right?"

I winced at the second name, remembering the memories. I shuddered, trying to erase the thoughts from my mind. "Yeah, Adam was, well is, great."

Bianca seemed to notice my sudden weariness and changed the topic. "So, you live in Orillia?"

I nodded and tucked my black hair behind my ear. "Yeah, it took an hour and a half to get here."

"It'll be worth it, trust me. But I'm pretty nervous myself about this reunion, I was such a bitch to everyone at Degrassi. I wonder what they'll think of me now." Bianca said.

Bianca _was_ a bitch in high school, to be honest. I remember how she harassed Adam when she found out that he was a FTM. I never understood how Drew even liked her after she freaked out over Adam. Some things will never make sense. I sighed and jumped when the baby suddenly let out a loud cry. "Nathan's hungry. I should probably go feed him. But, just get settled in the guest room and Adam should be here any minute." Bianca got up, shifted the baby onto her hip, and strolled out of the room after flashing me a smile.

I stood up and dragged my suitcase over to a set of doors on the far end of the house. I opened the one that Bianca pointed me out to and shut the door behind me, happy for the privacy. I placed the suitcase on the bed and looked around. The walls were a soft blue and there was a door to the left, which I guessed was a bathroom. A cream colored comforter covered the bed.

I sat down on the bed and zipped open the suitcase. I had made sure to pack clothing that made me look at least a little successful. My job at the video store didn't quite fit the "success" description.

Adam's teaching job at the local college made made realize how much my life sucks. Adam has everything going for him. He's got his girlfriend, Kylie, his great job, his small but cozy apartment.. I have the tiny, leaky, no air-conditioned room that some people would call an apartment.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the front door open. Adam's voice called out and I went to the door and opened it.

"Eli!" He yelled, enthusiasticly.

"Hey, man. It's been what, two months since you visited?" I said, leaning in and giving him a hug.

"You don't look any different. But hey, I see a little stubble growing." He teased.

Bianca came in, with a satisfied looking Nathan on her hip. "Hey Bee." Adam greeted, kissing her on the cheek. "And Nathan." He patted the baby on his hairless head.

"Where's Kylie?" Bianca asked.

"Working." Adam made his way into the kitchen as me and Bianca followed.

"Of course, right to the kitchen." Bianca laughed as Adam opened the fridge. "Drew's shopping right now, we don't have anything good except baby formula."

"Drew...shopping? What have you done to the poor guy?" Adam teased. Bianca playfully punched him in the arm and walked out to the living room to entertain Nathan. Adam sat down at the kitchen table. I sat across from him and drummed my fingers on the table.

"What's wrong with you, Eli?" He eyed me, concerned.

"What?"

"You tap your fingers when you're nervous."

I took my hand off the table and put them in my lap. "I guess I'm a little nervous about tomorrow."

"It'll be fun! You're already in Toronto, you can't back out now." Adam said.

"I guess I can't.." I sighed.

"You'll be surprised how some people turned out. You're basically the only one who moved away. Everyone's still here." Adam got up, reaching in his pocket, pulling out his phone. "You wanna know who asked about you the other day?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Who?"

"Fitz. Everyone calls him Mark now, though."

"Fitz? You're friends with Fitz?" I shifted in my chair, uncomfortably. "Do you not remember how he treated you in high school?"

"He apologized, junior year, remember? I'm not one for holding grudges. He changed though. He wasn't playing around when he said he found Jesus. He really did. I go to church with him sometimes." When he noticed my facial expression, he added, "He's a good guy, really."

"I'll believe it when I see it." I mumbled.

"Let's call him up, maybe get some lunch or something." Adam suggested.

I shrugged. "Adam?"

He started dialing on his phone. "Huh?"

"How is.. Clare?" I asked, looking down.

He stopped dialing and closed his phone. "I don't talk to her that much. She.. She kinda keeps to herself lately. The last time I talked to her was a few months ago when we ran into each other at the Dot." He said, with almost a hint of sadness in his voice.

I took a deep breath. _She's not yours anymore, don't worry about her. _I sighed. "Well, that sucks."

* * *

><p><strong>At least 10 reviews before I add Chapter 2 :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi.**

**OKAY, I lied. This isn't a long chapter, it's basically just a filler chapter. The next chapter will be long, I promise.**

**xxela, Orillia is to the north of Toronto, right by Lake Simcoe. :)**

**writersblock92, yeah, it does follow the story line in the show. But, whatever happens in Season 11 obviously didn't/doesn't happen in this story. If that makes sense.**

* * *

><p><span>Eli's POV<span>

Adam planned for us to meet Fitz at Little Miss Steaks, a western styled cafe that I remember my parents taking me to a few times back in high school.

"We're gonna leave at noon." Adam told me after sliding his phone into his pocket. "We're gonna pick up Kylie on our way. She'll be on her lunch break." I watched as Adam spoke adoringly about his girlfriend. I had yet to meet her.

I nodded and ran my hands through my hair.

"It'll be fine." He said to me, noticing my uneasy look. He patted me on the back and walked out. I soon heard him cooing over Nathan in the other room and Bianca's laugh followed.

I rubbed my hands over my eyes. Not only was I worried about reuniting with the guy who made my high school a living hell, but I was worried about how he turned out after all these years. Was he successful, unlike me? All through high school, Fitz was the bully. He was at the bottom of the food chain, beating up people out of jealousy. He didn't have much, while I had the perfect girl.. for most of junior year, at least. I wonder how much things have changed.

I got up and walked over to the guest room. _We don't have to leave for another hour, _I thought to myself, glancing at the clock on the wall. I shrugged and walked to the bathroom. I shut the door and peeled off my casual black button-up along with my gray bermuda shorts. Once I was fully naked, I stepped into the shower and turned the knob.

As I let the hot water drench my body, I reminisced back to the day when I left Toronto..

_Senior year was over and it was two weeks into the summer. It was bright and sunny outside, but me and Adam were hidden indoors, playing video games as usual._

_"Hey, Adam?" I lifted my head to look at my best friend._

_"Yeah?" He replied, setting down his game controller._

_"I need to leave." _

_"What?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrows._

_"I need to get out of here. There's nothing left for me here. You've got your academic scholarship to University of Toronto and you'll be starting in a month. I've got nothing. I'm sick of everyone here and I just need to get away." I said._

_"Bro, what about your parents? Clare?"_

_"My parents don't need me. And Clare? She left me in junior year." I replied, wincing at the memory when Clare left me that day before spring break. After that day, I refused to let anybody ever come that close to me again, scared of what would happen if anybody ever got that close, like what happened with Clare. _

_"I know you're still in love with her." Adam said._

_I sighed, knowing there was no point in lying to him. "It doesn't matter." I mumbled._

_"You still haven't forgiven yourself after that night? It wasn't your fault. You need to let it go." _

_"Adam, she was terrified of me. I went too far and I lost her." I said._

_"You've gotten better, though. You've been taking your medication, right?"_

_I nodded, thinking back to the day when I was diagnosed with OCD._

_After a few minutes of silence, Adam spoke up. "When are you leaving?" He whispered._

_"Soon."_

The hot water scalded my skin and I blinked. I turned the knob off, realizing that I'd been in here for quite a while. I got out and wrapped a towel around my waist. I opened the bathroom door and went over to my suitcase. I rummaged through the contents until I found my white v-neck and black jeans. I put them on along with my boxers and walked to the door. I opened it and went over to the living room. Adam was snoozing on the couch with a chubby little Nathan sleeping on his lap.

"Look how cute they are." Bianca smiled, walking in. I smirked and sat down on the loveseat. Bianca went over to where the two were sleeping and picked up Nathan. The baby yawned in his sleep and she carried him over to his nursery. Adam shuffled and soon opened his eyes, looking confused.

"You were asleep all day. It's midnight..." I said, jokingly.

"We were supposed to meet Fitz... shit!" Adam shot right up and I burst into laughter.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding.. It's 11:45."

Adam rolled his eyes at me and stood up, yawning. The front door opened and in came a struggling Drew, carrying six bags full of food. Adam got up and patted Drew's back and he went out to help bring the food in.

"Eli! Hey, dude." Drew said when he caught sight of me. He set the bags on the kitchen counter and let out a breath.

"Hey, Drew. How's it going?"'

"All I know is, I'm never going shopping again." He laughed.

"It's the man code. Us men never go shopping." I smirked. The statement was true, I never go shopping. I just order fast food almost every night.

Bianca came in and gave Drew a kiss. "Not is this house." She laughed.

Adam came in with an arm full of shopping bags and set them on the counter. "Eli, it's time to go." He said to me.

I nodded and waved to Drew and Bianca.

"I'll drop him off later. Bye Drew, bye Bee. Tell Nathan I said bye." Adam said, walking towards the door.

I followed Adam out, and we walked towards his car, a 328 2002 BMW.

We chatted during the car ride, talking about anything from food to books to TV. I definitely did miss having Adam around and it was just like old times. After ten minutes, we pulled in front of a plain looking office building. Adam honked the horn and out came and clean-cut, professional woman with blonde hair.

Adam rolled down and window and gave her a kiss. She walked around to the backseat and smiled at me. "Hi. I'm Kylie." She said, pulling out her hand. I shook her hand and smiled back. "Eli." I greeted.

"I only have an hour." Kylie said to Adam, reminding him of her work schedule.

Kylie told me about her job, she worked as a Business Analyst, whatever that means. Her work seemed to be her entire life. I wondered how she even had time for Adam.

After a few minutes, we pulled into the restaurant's parking lot.

A man with slick dark brown hair, waited by the entrance. Adam called out and I watched as the man turned around, it was Fitz.

* * *

><p><strong>I know, this chapter sucks. Sorry ): <strong>

**BUT I PROMISE, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE LONG AND GOOD!**

**At least 10 reviews for this chapter before I post the next one :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi.**

**Mayci, it was basically just a filler chapter. Hopefully you like this one, though. :)**

**LilithSky, Thanks so much! (:**

**ENJOY!3**

* * *

><p>Fitz's hair was slicked back with gel and as he looked toward us, I noticed faint freckles on his nose and cheeks. He flashed a smile and raised his hand to wave at us.<p>

Adam and Kylie got out and started walking towards him as I trailed quietly behind. "Let's eat! I'm starving!" Adam said, playfully slapping Fitz on the back. Kylie and Adam walked ahead of us to the entrance while Fitz smiled hesitantly at me.

"Eli." He greeted. "It's been a while. How are you?"

I turned to look at him and I saw no trace of unfriendliness on his face. Maybe Adam was right, maybe he has changed.

"I'm okay." I replied. "Adam forced me to come to this reunion tomorrow."

Fitz laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna beat you up or scare you to death with a knife." He joked.

"Those were the days.." I laughed, sarcastically. "So, how are you, Fitz?"

"Please, call me Mark." He began. "I dropped the nickname in college. But I'm good. I'm working on my Masters degree. I've also been volunteering at the church lately. Have you found God yet, Eli?"

I pushed my eyebrows together and shook my head. "Er.. No, I haven't."

Mark frowned and held the door open as we walked into the noisy cafe. I blinked a few times and a memory suddenly hit me.

_It was six years ago. Junior year, a little bit after Winter Break. Bullfrog, Cece, and I were eating at Little Miss Steaks. My parents were reminiscing my toddler years and I sat back, smirking at them. Before I knew it, Clare was there and her cute little voice spoke up, "Hey.." She said to me. She quickly greeted herself to Bullfrog and Cece and took a seat next to me. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting your family dinner.." She said, nervously, smiling a little. My parents shrugged it off and asked her what she was doing here at the steakhouse. "Um, well, I just couldn't handle being around my parents." Clare said. "It's none of our business.." Bullfrog started, "But if you need a place to crash, our house is your house, anytime." Clare smiled a little. "Wow..thank you. It's nice to know there is a guest room with my name on it." Cece and Bullfrog laughed and Clare pushed her eyebrows together, confused. "There's no guest room." Bullfrog said. "...Excuse me?" Clare asked, raising her eyebrows. "Dad." I said, trying to stop him from continuing. "We haven't had a girl in Eli's room in a while.." Bullfrog laughed. "Dad." I said louder. "Can you give me and Clare a moment alone?" I asked. Cece and Bullfrog got up, mumbling something I couldn't hear, and walked away._

_"They just assumed that since we've been dating..that we'd..." I started._

_"Have sex? Why would they think that?" Clare asked._

_"Well, you know.. Julia. She had problems with her step-mom so she..she stayed with us." I said, nervously._

_"As in.. with you.."_

_"Clare, I didn't even know you existed yet." I said quickly._

_"You know I'm not having sex until I get married, right?" Clare asked. "Does that bother you?"_

_"It's not my favorite thing but that's what's got be.." I started._

_Clare went on about how different we are and that we'll turn out like her parents.. divorced._

_"Clare, we're not your parents." I said._

_"I..I'll call you later." Clare said quickly, getting up, and walking away._

I shook my head violently, trying to erase the memory from my head.

"Are you alright?" Mark asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and my knees shook a little as we followed the waiter to a table. Kylie and Adam slide over onto the booth as me and Mark sat opposite to them.

The waiter handed us menus and I quickly scanned through it, picking the first thing I saw. I felt a foot kick me lightly on my shin and looked up at Adam, who was sitting opposite of me. "You okay?" He silently mouthed to me, noticing my uneasy look. I nodded and plastered a smile on my face. "_You haven't seen or heard from Clare in five years. Why are you freaking out? How can you handle seeing her tomorrow at the reunion if you can't even handle being at the places where your memories with her linger? It was a bad idea coming here, I knew it." _I thought to myself. Adam eyed me carefully before he turned his head towards Kylie. I looked towards the cute couple and watched as Adam leaned over and kissed Kylie on the cheek. She smiled and blushed.

"Wanna go to the bar?" Mark whispered to me, pointing toward the bar across the room. "Let's leave these two to their smooching contest."

I nodded and got up. "Adam, we're gonna get some drinks. Want us to bring you back one?"

Adam looked up and shook his head before leaning his head back down to Kylie. I rolled my eyes and followed Mark to the bar near the back of the restaurant. It smelled like pure liquor. A man with a scruffy beard, obviously drunk, was hysterically laughing while downing a red liquid. I sat on a stool a few seats away from the man and waited for the bartender to come to us. Mark sat down next to me and scanned the colorful board that was standing next to the bar. "The Banana Daiquiri looks good. What are you gonna get?" He asked me, placing his hand on my thigh. My eyes opened wide and I shifted uncomfortably. He started to drum his fingers along my thigh and I coughed, awkwardly, getting up as I did so. "I'll.. I'll be right back." I said swiftly. I walked away quickly and practically ran back to the table. "Adam." I practically yelled, interrupting Adam and Kylie's intense make out. He lifted his head up, annoyed. "What? Aren't you getting a drink?"

"I need to talk to you." I said to him, pulling his arm. He got up, sighing heavily, and followed me to the back of the restaurant near the bathroom.

"What?" He asked me. "Something really weird just happened." I told him. Adam waited for me to continue. "Mark was.. he had his hand on my thigh.. near my junk." I said, taking a deep breath. "Are you sure?" Adam asked. I rolled my eyes and continued, "Is he gay?"

"He never told me anything about that.. Maybe you just got the wrong idea. Eli, he has a girlfriend." Adam told me.

"Hopefully..." I mumbled, glancing over at the bar across the room. Mark was facing us, frowning.

* * *

><p><strong>At least 30 reviews before the next chapter :P<strong>


End file.
